You guys seem to have a big hang up with the "Options", forgetting that what people are looking for is the car, the total package, not just the options.

BTW, I am enjoying our little late afternoon debate.

 

There are around 15 to 20 '04 MCS being sold in my area. Average price $24K, Lowest price $22.5K (Car with ZERO options other than metallic paint) and highest price $26K. Not a single one has JCW or at least going by the description.

There is one '05 MCSC with 1400 miles (No cruise or Harmon Kardon) going for $29K and change.

I think you guys should be happy, happy!

We have cars with tremendous resale value even if you don't have fat wheels attached to the 4 corners.

 

So..........who's buying mine?.....very cheap '04 JCW 6500 miles fully loaded plus a sh..t load of stuff !!!!!........see " THINKING OF SELLING" thread.....I just hijacked this thread!!!!!!!!!!

 

Sorry to say, but if it was a deal someone wanted you would have already sold it. It's what the market will bring you. As far as the JCW equipped car..you missed the 03' JCW with a sport pack and 17k miles or something like that and it sold for a little more then $20k. If you don't believe me, search the marketplace forums. He came down quite a bit. The market just isn't there right now. And look for the 05 that had very low miles and the owner was asking the same price as you are asking. Do you still consider your car a fair deal compared to them?

 

I dont blame the guy for tryin... I wouldnt let mine go for anything less than 27,500... then again, my car has shitloads of goodies.

 

I don't think he that off the mark. Actually I just ran some KBB.con numbers using my zipcode (33185) on a similarly equipped '03 MCS (KBB in fact does not have 2004 used values posted) with the same mileage and the numbers came higher than his asking price for both "Excellent" and "Good" condition private sale.


It seems to me that mileage has a far greater impact than the options you have from factory in the car. Aftermarket mods bring next to nothing to the table at time of resale (Sad but true).

Assuming 3 Pedals sells his '04 MCS for, say, 10%-15% less than original MSRP (Seems to be a very big hit to take on a car that virtually does not depreciate more than 7%-8% its first year) his asking price will be in the $19.5K-$20K range. He can expect to get that much on a trade-in, so why bother selling it privately??

These little dudes hold thier resale value very well. I think his asking price is spot on, IMO.

 

FWIW, I have found kbb.com to overestimate the value of the MINI. The last time I ran my car (using an '03 since '04 wasn't available), it came back with a private party price that was higher than the car's MSRP.
I've noticed this a lot lately. When someone lists a car for sale in this forum, a group of self-appointed "experts" jump in to tell him why the car is over-priced. If you're not interested in buying it, why post at all?

I guess I might understand if he had come back and asked why his car hadn't sold, but until that point, why do people feel the need to bash the asking price?

 

Like I said, If you can sell it then great we are all happy because our resale stays high for that much longer. With that said, you are not going to sell it to people on here who know these cars. You asked or "feelered" and by now you should have a good idea of the market.

Also, I ran the numbers myself (see attached) did I get the numbers wrong? I chose your listed options.

My direct questions to you 3 pedals:
Are you the 1st and only owner? (did you buy it new?)
What did you pay for it?


I agree to a point, see next item on why speak here. To the self appointed experts issue. I have yet to see any one post anywhere with the first line being " I am an expert!, now listen" It doesnt take an expert to know that I can go right now walk into a dealer and spec an 05 for MUCH less than his original asking price and by my calculations a couple of hundred more than current price? Will anyone expert or not dispute this? I ask the members of NAM?

Remember, he asked for what we thought of the price. The post was not FOR SALE it was Im concidering a sale. This dialoge would be completely inappropriate If he was selling and looking for real buyers here, I would not crash a thread like that.

With that said, he may not lie but this is just plain not a loaded MCS. Right or wrong? I ask the members of NAM?

 

As I said, it appears to be a trend in the NAM Marketplace threads. Check around, you'll find a lot of what I'm talking about in other threads. Often, it is the same posters who attack the pricing. This just happened to be the one that drove me to post my thoughts.

 

Kevin, true, KBB often overestimates the used values of most cars, including the MINI, but in my "unscientific" research concentrating on the '04 model year, I can tell you that used 2004s are pretty darn expensive used cars that are not too far off from the admission price of brand new '05s.

People seem to get irritated over this (I am happy because that means I made a good buy) when someone intends to resell their car. The MINI market (Used vs New thing) is very tight and the high resale value of our cars can either work in favor or against us. My feel is that the '04 Used MINI buyer is looking to have a MINI right away (He or she doesn't wait to wait), perhaps doesn't like some of the cosmetic changes introduced in the 2005s or simply believes that they can get a nearly new MINI for a few hundred or thousand below MSRP of a new one.

Sure, if may look crazy why anyone would pay so much for an used MINI when for a few hundred bucks they can get a new one?. It all depends where you live. If you are out in the West coast where dealers still price gouge in new and used MINIs and the wait lists are still long, an used '05 or even '05 is not a bad alternative under the right circumstances.

I have a friend that works in used car auction and used MINIs here are going for top dollar. It is a hot car and used ones (Specially MCS) are hard to find here, so supply is low, demand high and voila! Your used MINI is going to command top dollar.

 

Hey Planeguy!

:smile:

I have seen those Edmunds TMV used values for the MINI and I hate to tell ya, but they are not very realistic. I can't find 3 Pedals' MINI around here for less than 21K with same or close amount of miles. TMV used to be more accurate but lately their figures are way off IMO, but that's my perception.

The thing is that an used '04 MCS or Cooper for that matter is a very darn expensive used car! The '04s have not depreciated beyond the 7-8% threshold locally. Yes why would anyone go for an used '04 when they can get an '05 for a little more? I don't have the answer to that question, but this is the state of the market for these cars.

Go to Carmax.com, punch in Zipcode 33185 and find all the used MINIs they currently have for sale. They have sold, this week only, 2 MCS in Sotuh Florida (I think both were 2003's) for not less than $23K modestly equipped. Carmax has a no haggle price policy. So apparently they are stupid people (If you want to call them that) willing to pay exhorbitant amounts of cash for an used car. It beats me! But guess what, these fools paying all this money are keeping or resale values high! It most definetely works in our favor!

Also keep in mind that when you car has a popular option (Ex sunroof or leather seats) the price goes up just a little bit but you do get penalized when you don't have one of those options....follow me? I think you concentrate or focus too much in the options when the "meat and potatoes" is what's under the bonnet. There I agree with 3 Pedals, because a Cooper S is still a Cooper S whether it has a sunroof or not, whether it has DSC or not what people "in the know", I pressume, are looking for is what makes the car a Cooper S and the options are the icing on the cake.

Some people are hell bent on getting Premium and Sport Packages which is fine, but none of those things make the car faster but sure they do make them more desirable. But for the next person, maybe having the Premium Pack could a deterrent for the sale and so on and so forth.

It all falls on the buyer's lap. If the person all he or she wants is a Supercharged Cooper S and caring little about the options, they will pay for it.

For instance, Edmunds TMV pricing lists my car for Private Sale at $18,700 that is so ridiculous! That is the amoutn of money I can get easily on a trade-in! So then why bother selling privately if Edmunds says that a lightly option MCS is not worth a penny more than a fully loaded Cooper? That makes no sense to me, something is wrong with their picture.

Here in Miami, a '04 Cooper 5-speed or automatic, if you find one, is selling for not less than $22K and that's is a Cooper.

Then again, use my zipcode and you'll see what I mean.

 

$19,683 private sale for an used '04 MCS?? You'll never gonna find that! That is trade-in territory.

 

Ok, I am up for a challenge. In a few minutes I am going to swing by my local Carmax. I'll have them appraise my '04 MCS. I'll report back on the results this afternoon.


Anyone else?

 

You can't blame him for trying...I don't fault him at all for that at all. I only pointed out what the market is saying. If you have to sell it fast and asking for KBB or whatever book price is something that is just not going to happen. I can point to various local ads that are similarily priced and are constantly being reposted. And remember we are in CA and the demand here is probably the highest in the country. If you can't sell it here for book value...

 

22k for a used cooper? My friend picked up a cooper 05 convert and paid msrp..He ordered in late october 04 and got it last week.

 

OK, just got back from Carmax. I was offered $18,400 for my '04 MCS by them. Offer is good for 7 days or 300 miles. That works out exactly to 86% off original MSRP sticker price (when new). Not too bad, but not so great either. My dealer offered me $18.5K also on a trade. I guess you have to add the tax savings benefit of around $1K to that total amount. So comes out to $19.4K.


Definetely can do much better down retail road (Private sale)....

 

Maybe I havent been clear egnough about my issue with 3 pedal's pricing. My issue is that is initial asking price had to be WAY over MSRP
His current asking price i think is still over MSRP, even by 05 prices right?


Again, I am happy if he sells it ....It keeps everyones re-sale high, everyone wins! Maybe he is in CA but isn't an asking price OVER MSRP new for used car by private party completely ridiculous?

My direct questions to you 3 pedals:
Are you the 1st and only owner? (did you buy it new?)
What did you pay for it?

and (I will add) what zip code are you in?

BTW....Cooper4us thanks for going out of the way to humor this thread by going to carmax.

 

Oh boy that trip to Carmax was interesting. Those guys were hoping and praying that I would turn in the keys to them, because they don't currently have any inventory of used MINIs at the MIA location.

Going back to the original topic, I think a new '05 configured the same way is around $23K and his "feeler" price is $21.5K so that would be around $1,500 less than a comparable new one.

The question is what would be a fair price then?

 

Ok, so i just configured an 05 it came in at $22855 concidering the 04 base price was $500 less that puts his original sticker price close to or under $22355 even though it does have sligtly high miles.
I will concede that 21.5k is a reasonable firm price ( I forgot about that darn $550 destination charge they rip you off for until i did the configurator which is a big chunk) and concidering the 05 prices are the new car option a $1300 diffrence is certainly egnough to make the buyer choose 04 used. 21.5k is the right price

 

Sounds pretty agreeable to me.:smile:

 

OBTW.....How much should I ask for a

03 MCS IB/W bonnet stripes
21 000 miles
w/ DSC
front fog lights
rear fog lights
Xenon (HID)
17" s-lights
Dual-pane panoramic moonroof
automatic A/C
hepa filter a/c filtration
OBC
MFSW
leather seats
heated seats
heated mirrors
heated washer jets
rain sensing wipers
auto dim mirror

Im thinking about....27k?

just kidding

 

I bought my used 2004 MCS Dark silver/black about 9 months ago from a private party. It is quite loaded with sport, premium, HK, blue leather, DVD Navigation. Also the first owner added factory black stripes, window tint, center armrest, console cubby shelves, glove compartment shelves, and some extra (not installed) clear tail lamps.

MSRP was $26500 at the time he bought it in January 2004 not including any of the extra add-ons. I paid him $23500 in May 2004 with 7k miles on the odometer.

It would have cost me $27000 for a new 2004 MCS since the pricing went up. If I could have found one in the West Palm Beach, FL area with navigation, I might have gone with a new one but none were on the lots and I didn't want to wait to order.

I would imagine that it should drop at least 2-3k off of MSRP for a new one!